INSPIRATION FOR A NATION: Navi Pillay’s Nobel Prize honours a heroic generation; now we must build another

That extra layer of pride and joy for South Africans upon hearing about Judge Navi Pillay’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize lay in the perceived rebuke to the enemy of peace: Donald J Trump. This is not because we, and most people on this planet, were just happy at yet another snub for one of the most despicable human beings alive. It was because Pillay embodies everything Trump lacks – she is courageous, principled, empathetic and guided by a steadfast, humane integrity.

The former United Nations commissioner for human rights, International Criminal Court judge, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, pioneering black female high court judge in newly democratic South Africa and lifelong activist hardly featured in the bookies’ and speculators’ shortlist for the coveted prize. 

Favourites included Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms network that has done incredible work in the war-torn country; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for his spearheading of the middle-power initiative that is aimed at salvaging the international order; and Pope Leo for his outspokenness on peace and justice.

There was Russian democracy activist Yulia Navalnaya, who has become Vladimir Putin’s primary nemesis since the killing of her husband Alexei Navalny in a gulag, as well as Ukrainian children’s rights champion Mykola Kuleba.

But then the (literal) dark horse from the southern tip of the much-impugned Dark Continent swept the honour. Pillay (85) is “one of the most respected international jurists of our time”, said the committee, calling her “instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”

The committee continued: “At a time of existential challenges – including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time – international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity.”

Pillay has played a pivotal role in upholding that necessity. Delivering a keynote address on International Criminal Justice Day in The Hague in 2013, she reflected on her life’s work and quoted a man she had defended as a young, green attorney in the 1960s – one who became a lifelong inspiration.

“It always seems impossible until it’s done,” she said, invoking one of Nelson Mandela’s most famous observations.

She told her audience that “making the impossible possible is what international criminal justice is about. Not so long ago, the creation of a permanent international criminal court seemed impossible. Now that the [International Criminal Court] is here, and here to stay, many of the challenges it faces in turn seem impossible to resolve… We can, and we must, move away from a culture of impunity for gross human rights violations and other international crimes, towards a culture of accountability and responsibility. This is possible.”

One of her seminal interventions in this area was the chairing of the Palestine commission, which found that the regime of Benjamin Netanyahu was committing genocide. 

Writing in The Guardian shortly after the verdict, about the catastrophe that Israel was visiting on Palestinians, she opined that “history will judge how the world responds. In Rwanda, the international community did not prevent the genocide, nor did it intervene to stop the killing once the genocide began. Today the international community is again failing to act — this time, in Gaza. The facts are reported daily. The warnings are unequivocal. The law is clear. The stakes, the survival of a people, could not be higher.”

It was no surprise then that the biggest detractors of her award were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. The Israeli foreign ministry said that “if there were a prize for lies, hatred and blood libels, Navi Pillay would not merely be a candidate – she would be the front-runner. Now that the Nobel Committee has rewarded the biggest lie of the 21st century, [Nazi propagandist] Joseph Goebbels is surely applauding from hell.”

Trump called her a “liberal” (what a swearword) and bitched that instead of awarding him the prize they had given it to someone “nobody has ever heard of.” Okay then, fine, Encyclopaedia Orange (or is it Orania)?

Enough of the detractors. Let’s talk about what this means to this nation that is home to six Nobel Prize winners. On the literary side, we have Nadine Gordimer, a giant of the written word and a human rights icon in her own right. On the peace side, we have had Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk.

Everyone knows De Klerk never deserved it, and it was given to him primarily to compel the last apartheid president to stay on the path of peaceful resolution of apartheid’s dissolution. It worked. De Klerk, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, never turned back. And now we have Pillay, the global warrior in the battle against impunity for monstrous acts.

Pillay’s honour is a tribute to a time when we produced icons. There is a very good reason why the South African revolution and transition to democracy are viewed as one of the most quintessential historical processes of the last century and a half. For a large chunk of that revolution, we were led by men and women of immense stature and integrity.  There was a phenomenal leadership factory that churned out the highest quality products. The Nobel prizes are no accident.

Pillay comes from that factory. Her life story, related many times this week, is one of overcoming the odds and a determination that no one else in the world should have to struggle like her to live a decent life. Be it in her home country, in Rwanda, in Palestine, the Americas, Asia or any country or continent where she worked. She has been a product of this special place we call home and the struggles that have been fought here.

We have to now question whether that factory has slowed down production. Pillay is 85 years old. She grew up in an oppressive era that bred super-fine humans like her.  They stood up to power and spoke for the vulnerable. Selflessly and without fear. Democratic South Africa should be drawing from that genetic code and using the current struggles against poverty, injustice, corruption and lawlessness to produce more like her.

There are still many remarkable South Africans who do the most amazing work. How do we elevate their work to the level that makes a difference not only to ourselves but to the world at large? Leaders and activists who move beyond the hate and retribution that is becoming a staple of the national discourse. Pillay is of a generation that never set out to achieve greatness. Even now, as she received the news, she was self-deprecating and genuinely shocked at winning the coveted award.

Having one of our own being honoured in this manner is a moment for celebration. However, that should not be everything. It should be the beginning of a dialogue about what we can be and how that factory’s production levels can be ramped up again. Heaven knows, South Africa needs it. DM